Description:

For substance misuse prevention practitioners who are nearer to the field, or who have worked predominantly with individual or family-based prevention programs, environmental change can be a daunting proposition.  It can be challenging both to understand the myriad ways that the environment influences behavior, as well as the many ways prevention professionals can shape those environments to better support health. Join us for this session to dive into environmental approaches to prevention.  We will explore the importance of environmental strategies in a comprehensive substance misuse prevention plan, core components of commonly implemented environmental strategies, and key considerations for effective implementation.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the value of including environmental strategies in a comprehensive substance misuse prevention plan
• Distinguish between individual-focused and environmental prevention approaches
• Identify core components of select environmental strategies
• Discuss key considerations of effective implementation of environmental strategies

Presenter bios:

 Jess Goldberg – Jess Goldberg is a training and technical assistance specialist with Education Development Center. For over a decade, Jess has specialized in building capacity to improve behavioral health at the national, state, regional and local levels. Her areas of expertise include preventing youth substance use; promoting cross-sector collaborations; addressing health disparities; strategic planning, logic model development, and sustainability planning. Jess holds an MSW and MPH from Boston University and is a Certified Prevention Specialist.